Guidelines - National Day of Mourning, August 8 - Hon Lady Bustamante O.J.

   GUIDELINES

NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING

The Honourable Lady Bustamante, OJ

The Honourable Lady Bustamante will be accorded an Official Funeral on Saturday 8 August 2009 which will also be observed as a National Day of Mourning.

TIMES

The following guidelines should apply, where relevant, from the usual start of the working day until the conclusion of the interment ceremony at National Heroes Park. Official mourning observances cease once burial has taken place.

DRESS

Sedate colours and modest attire are suggested. Black or similar (very dark blue, etc,) neckties are traditional for men wearing shirt and tie. Ladies, and men not wearing ties, may wish to request from florists or otherwise obtain small rosettes made from black ribbon, for wear on the upper left lapel of blouse, shirt or jacket. These suggestions are not essentially restricted to those attending the funeral.

JDF/JCF

Uniformed Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers Class 1 of the JDF and Gazetted Officers and Inspectors of the JCF who will be at the funeral service and interment, will wear black armbands on their upper left sleeves.

ACTIVITIES

On an official day of mourning it is customary to curtail activity of a flamboyant or celebratory nature, and especially any activity that is noisy, until the official period of national mourning concludes with the end of the burial ceremony.

THE NATIONAL FLAG

The Jamaican National Flag may be flown on 8 August, prior to the end of the burial ceremony ONLY at what is known as "half mast". This is NOT halfway up the flagstaff and a special flag raising procedure is required. The flag shall first be raised fully and then lowered to the half mast position; also at the end of the period of mourning it should be raised again to the top of the flagstaff before later being lowered as usual at sunset.

What is the half mast position?

The military and classic "half mast" is (as near as can be judged by the observer on the ground) one width of the flag below the top of the flagstaff. Also, for civilian half masting, especially from very high flagstaffs, it is equally acceptable for the flag to be positioned two-thirds of the way up the staff but, as indicated in the previous paragraph, never halfway up the flagstaff.

It should also be noted that the National Flag may be half masted only on a directive from the Office of the Prime Minister, never at the whim of an individual citizen.

In the event of rain, the National Flag should be lowered and never left hanging wet and limp on the flagstaff, even on a day of mourning.

OTHER FLAGS

When the Jamaican National flag is at half mast it is not acceptable to similarly half mast the national flags of other countries unless their governments, through their diplomatic missions at Kingston, have indicated that this should be done. Therefore, in the absence of such permission, it is recommended that foreign national flags should not be flown at all at Jamaican establishments during an official period of mourning.

Local flags, such as what are termed "house flags", e.g. university, company and school flags, should be flown in accordance with the procedure for the National Flag, or not flown at all during the official period of mourning.

Prepared by:

Merrick NEEDHAM          31.07.09

Merrick Needham & Associates

CONTACT: 924-0333